by Kristie Cook
“Good idea,” I said, and I propped up on my toes to give him a kiss. His lack of enthusiasm in returning it made me feel bad. Did he feel rejected? I quickly explained, “Her mind is completely silent to me. I need to get away from all the buzzing in everyone’s heads for once.”
“Just don’t do anything stupid,” he said, and it sounded like a grumble more than a warning. Then he walked off without a word or another kiss or the smallest of touches.
I began to second-guess myself, but once Sasha and I were outside and far enough from the safe house, I was glad I hadn’t changed my mind. Of course, I couldn’t move completely out of my mental range—I’d have to leave the protection of the shield to do so—but far enough that I didn’t hear the hum of nearby thoughts. If I wanted to, I could pick out mind signatures and listen, but I didn’t want to. I relished the silence.
Sasha and I made a lap near the perimeter of the twenty-acre property, but it hadn’t been enough to expend the energy I felt. She’d grown to the size of a German shepherd to easily keep up with me, and we made another round. When we reached the back of the property, a few yards in the woods, movement farther in the trees caught my eye. A blur too fast for me to see, but my mind caught the familiar signature.
Sasha sensed the danger, too, and became the size of a horse next to me. Her pearly white wings spread above her nearly two stories high. Her white snout wrinkled as she growled ferociously. Her wings beat a violent rhythm against the air, stirring up leaves from the ground in a near tornadic wind. I’d never seen her so angry. So frightening. She let out a tiger’s roar, and then she sprinted into the woods.
“Sasha!” I yelled, and I ran after her, while mentally calling for Tristan and the others. Victor’s nearby, and Sasha chased after him.
“Let her go, Lex,” Tristan said a moment before appearing next to me.
But the loud crack of branches breaking and other sounds of fighting wouldn’t allow me to let it go. Vanessa appeared at the same moment I blurred toward the sounds. I didn’t get there quick enough, though. Broken tree limbs and gouges in the dirt showed there had been a struggle, but Victor and Sasha had taken their fight farther into the woods.
“Sasha,” I called, and I thought I heard something so I ran again. I’d moved way beyond the shield now, but Victor seemed to be alone. I didn’t sense any other mind signatures nearby, Daemoni or otherwise.
“She’ll be fine,” Tristan said when he caught up with me.
“We don’t know that!”
“Let her go,” he repeated, this time his voice lower and more demanding. “She’ll run him off and probably beat us back.”
“Unless she gets hurt again,” I protested. My muscles tensed in preparation for another sprint, but Tristan’s hand wrapped tightly around my upper arm, stopping me.
“Don’t be stupid,” he said, and he definitely growled now.
I jerked my arm out of his grip. “Don’t be an ass. I can’t let her get hurt again.”
“She can take care of herself.”
“And lose another wing?” I glared at Tristan as my chest heaved. “She’s not invincible, Tristan.”
“Neither are you!”
“Um, I’ll go look for her,” Vanessa said, her eyes bouncing between Tristan and me. “You need to get back in the shield.”
I opened my mouth to protest.
“He’s my idiot brother. My twin. I might be able to find out why he’s here while I’m at it.”
“Or I could,” I countered as I tapped my forehead.
“Alexis,” Tristan warned. “You can do that from the safe house.”
“Let me do this,” Vanessa said. “Go! Get your unprotected ass out of here.”
She left in a blur. Tristan grabbed my arm again, but I shook him off once more, still deciding whether or not to find Sasha myself. With a rumble in his chest, he snaked an arm around me and flashed us to right outside the safe house property. The air hummed as he carried me through the shield, and then he set me on my feet.
“That flash could have been really stupid,” I snapped. “We could have been trapped.”
“We were too close to the safe house. And don’t talk to me about being stupid.” His voice held that dangerous steel edge to it. I wasn’t used to it being directed at me.
“You need to chill out,” I said. “You’re way overreacting. It was only Victor. I can handle him easily. And like you said, we were close enough to the safe house.”
“It was still stupid. Damn it, Alexis, don’t you think about what it would do to me if something happened to you?” He shook his head, his sandy brown hair falling across his forehead. “Of course not. All you think about is yourself.”
My breath caught. I felt as though he’d slapped me. “How can you say that? I’m trying to think of everyone. Trying to take care of everyone and ensure they’re safe. Including Sasha!”
“Everyone except me,” he muttered, then his voice raised with each word spewing from his mouth. “You don’t give a damn what I feel every time you do something like this.”
“What?” I asked, at a loss for words. I didn’t know where this was suddenly coming from. I’d been good about controlling my impulses. Hadn’t I?
He stepped in front of me, towering over me, his muscles straining with control. He looked down at me with eyes sparking.
“You’re so damned focused on Dorian and everyone else, did you ever stop to think that I’m going through the same thing? That I’m this close to going on a killing spree as it is? I’m on the fucking edge, and it’ll be you who pushes me over.”
Exasperation ballooned within me, and my heart hammered against my chest. “You need to back off,” I said through clenched teeth as I pushed a finger into his chest. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you—”
“You don’t know what’s wrong with me?” he roared, making me jump. “My son is missing, and there’s nothing I can do about it! My wife seems to think it’s okay to go off and get herself killed, too! Do you realize the darkness that would throw me into? I’m about to explode as it is, Alexis. And you don’t know what’s wrong with me? Maybe if you opened your fucking eyes and looked at me for once, you’d know.”
I took a step back, blinking away traitor tears. My mouth opened and closed as words failed me. Had I really been so oblivious to him? I struggled to swallow, the answer constricting my throat. Yes, I had been. I’d been relying on him as my rock, the foundation to hold me up because my world was so close to crumbling around me. And he’d been that for me. He’d been my strength this whole time, but I’d failed to see he needed the same thing from me.
“I’m . . . I’m sorry,” I stammered, my voice small. “I didn’t know . . .”
He pushed his hands through his hair, and his ferocity deflated. “I know, ma lykita. Look, I’m sorry. I just . . . I guess I kept that pent up for too long.” He reached out for me, but I stepped away. His face softened, nearly crumpled. His hazel eyes darkened, filling with regret. Regret he didn’t need. “Lexi, I didn’t mean—”
I shook my head. “No, you did. And it’s okay because I deserved it. You’re right. I’ve been selfish. I haven’t considered your thoughts or your feelings, only thinking about myself and Dorian and everyone else except you. I’m . . . I’m sorry.”
I’d never been good at apologies. I’d always felt too embarrassed by my actions that had led me to the need for one. Especially with Tristan, whom I loved so much. I hated when I disappointed him. When I hurt him. So I did what I always did when I was in the wrong—I ran and hid like a child. I locked myself in our suite, curled up in a ball on our bed, and stared out the window, trying to block out all of my mistakes.
But I couldn’t help but see them now. All of those times Tristan had been broody or mad and rather than being there for him, I lumped him in with everyone else. We’d all been moody over the months. We couldn’t help it. When you meet disappointment followed by more disappointment, you’re bound to get cranky.
; Tristan’s pain exceeded everyone else’s, though. It was my pain. Dorian was our son. Of course he’d been going through the same worries, fears, and frustration I had. I’d failed to see it, though. I’d failed as a wife. I hadn’t been there for my husband when he’d needed me most.
Tristan followed me upstairs and knocked on the door, insisting I let him in, but I pushed him away. Again. Twilight came before I finally had the nerve to face him and give a real apology. He’d been pacing the hallway or standing right by the door the whole time, so when I opened it, he practically fell on top of me.
He immediately swept me into his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “so, so sorry, ma lykita. I shouldn’t have lost it with you. Not you. You’re my everything. You’re the last one—”
“Stop,” I said, my words muffled as I spoke against his chest. He held me so tightly I could barely breathe. “I’m the one who needs to apologize. I told you—you have nothing to be sorry about. You had every right to be angry with me. I’m sorry for not being there for you. You’ve been so perfect for me, and I didn’t return the favor. I didn’t give you what you need, what you deserve from your wife.” I pulled back to look up at him and squirmed an arm free to reach up and place my hand against his cheek. “I’m so sorry, Tristan. I love you more than anything. I’m sorry I hurt you.”
He shook his head. “Don’t. Let it go now. We know we need each other. We’re here for each other through good and bad.”
I nodded, and he leaned down and covered his mouth with mine. Tristan always had his ways, especially after an argument, and my body always responded, as it did now. He pushed me back into our suite and closed the door behind us with his foot while he continued to kiss me, his tongue exploring every bit of my mouth. I pressed into him, my nipples poking through my sports bra and his t-shirt to brush against his chest. His hands slid up my sides and grasped my rib cage, his thumbs sliding under the bra and rubbing against the bottom bulge of my breasts. He continued kissing me as he began to push up the bra.
But I stopped him. “Not here.”
Chapter 19
Tristan’s mouth moved to my neck as his hand slid under the waistband of my shorts. “How about here?”
I giggled. “No, I mean not here at the safe house. I want to enjoy it.”
“Ah.” He groaned, his breath hot against my skin, but when he pulled back, he wore a huge grin. “As much as I hate to say it, sexy Lexi, you need to put more clothes on. We’re going for a ride.”
After all that talk about being unprotected and stupid, we snuck off on a motorcycle ride by ourselves. No warlock to shield or cloak us. No vampires or Weres to guard us. Just the two of us, risking our lives so we could be together the way we needed to be. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed myself against his back, part of me anxious to get there already, wherever there was, and part of me simply enjoying the ride as if we’d gone back in time to our early days when we didn’t have a care in the world. Well, at least nothing compared to this. We rode for more than an hour until we reached the Shenandoah National Park.
“It’s a full moon and you brought me to the woods?” I asked once we dismounted the bike. “Do you think this is a good idea?”
He gave me a wicked smirk as he swaggered toward me. His hands grasped my waist and pulled me to him, closing the remaining distance between us.
He leaned over and nibbled on my earlobe before whispering, “I thought danger was your thing.”
I smiled, unable to help it. “Well . . .”
“Besides, a little risk could add to the fun, don’t you think?”
His hot mouth closed over my throat. I must have needed him badly—worse than I realized—because my body immediately throbbed with an intense ache for him.
He pulled back, though, and began undressing himself, his beautiful hazel eyes never leaving my face. He pulled off his boots and then his pants and stood in front of me in all of his glorious nakedness. Holy fuck. How was I so lucky? After giving me a nice eyeful, he turned and strode toward the stream, the muscles of his round, too-perfect-to-be-real butt moving in a way that made my throat dry. I couldn’t help but imagine biting it.
“Are you coming?” he asked me as he stepped into the water.
Sheesh. One touch from him and I would be.
My fingers trembled as I undid the ribbon and hooks to loosen the leather corset I’d changed into, my breasts aching against the confinement. Finally they sprang free, my skin tight with their fullness and my nipples hard.
“Mmm . . . that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Tristan said quietly from the middle of the stream, his eyes filled with a greedy hunger. “Come on, ma lykita, the water’s perfect.”
My legs shook as I pulled off my leathers and practically ran for the stream. The water was far from perfect for a Norman—freezing cold against my hot skin—but I quickly adjusted. Or maybe the heat radiating from my body warmed it. When I’d almost reached him, Tristan swam downstream several yards, to a deeper swimming hole fed by a small waterfall. He took my hand and pulled me through the curtain of water, to a crescent-shaped area carved out of the hillside by the stream—a shallow cave hidden behind the waterfall. The ledge forming the floor ended right at the waterfall, and the water over it was only knee-deep. The ceiling of the half-cave hung low—too low for Tristan to stand. He pulled himself to sit on the ledge, and I climbed onto him. And finally he held me in his arms again, and his mouth pressed down on mine.
His full lips moved gently at first, but I was too hungry for him. I thrust my tongue into his mouth and devoured his tangy-sweet taste. The kiss deepened and became more urgent. His hands slid over my back, up into my hair where his fingers tangled into the locks, and down to the small of my back. I grasped onto his neck, grinding myself against his erection beneath me as we moaned into each other’s mouths. I finally broke away, wanting to taste more of him. I moved my lips and tongue over his angular jaw, slowly making my way to the tender skin where his jaw met his neck. I sucked as though trying to eat him, my tongue swirling over his tasty skin.
He tugged on my hair, pulling me back, and his head dove for my breasts. I leaned against his hands supporting my back as he kissed the soft flesh, then his lips closed over my breast, and he sucked it into his mouth. I bucked against him as his tongue flicked and rolled my nipple and then his teeth grazed over it. My fingers dug into his shoulders when he moved to the other side. After spending some time there, I could tell he wanted to go further down. I leaned away, my head falling back, and the water poured over my hair as Tristan kissed down my stomach, his tongue making circles around my belly button.
Both of his hands slid to my butt, raising my pelvis to the surface of the water, causing me to fall backwards through the waterfall so I floated halfway out and halfway in. He lifted me higher and, understanding, I moved my legs to curl over his shoulders. My back arched to give him better access. My body throbbed with aching need. Then his hot mouth closed down on me and with the cold water flowing over my breasts, I’d never felt anything so erotic. My body bucked and writhed as his tongue moved expertly, taking me to a bliss I hadn’t experienced in way too long.
When the tremors subsided, I slid my legs down Tristan’s body, grabbed his shoulders, and pulled him out of the waterfall to join me. We locked in a kiss, and my legs wrapped around his waist. His erection pressed against me but didn’t enter as he moved us closer to the shore. We came almost all the way out of the water, and he walked us to a big, smooth boulder. His mouth still clamped on mine, he grasped my calves and gently broke their grip on him, making me stand on my own feet.
“Turn around,” he said. I turned around. “Bend over.”
He positioned me perfectly with one arm underneath my breasts so none of my skin scraped against the rock. His free hand massaged my butt and stroked downward until his fingers brought me to another climax. Then he finally pushed inside me. My mind had already been wide open, but I lost any and all control as he thrust int
o me, slid out, thrust in again. He knew when I was about to scream his name because he clamped his free hand over my mouth. I bit down on it hard enough to draw blood when he plunged in deep and hard and sent me over the edge again. He must have liked it because he gave me several more hard pumps before exploding inside me.
He collapsed against me, his hard chest thumping against my back as we both panted. His lips trailed light kisses over my neck and shoulder until the after-shocks subsided. Then he pulled back and kneeled in the water.
“I really needed that,” I said as I turned over, lay on my back on the boulder, and stared at the starry sky.
“I know,” Tristan said as he scooped water into his hands and poured it over my breasts and stomach. “It’s the least I could do for our anniversary.”
Oh, crap. Was it that time of year already? I’d been so wound up with searching for Dorian, trying to find new converts, and worrying about the next Amadis daughter, I hadn’t noticed. I’d become worse than most guys when it came to remembering our anniversary. At least Tristan always remembered. And of all days, we’d had our worst argument in a long time. What a thing to argue about, too. This was more proof of how much I’d ignored him . . . ignored us.
“Maybe this is the time we’ll get pregnant,” I said as my finger caressed the stone in my chest, although I didn’t tell him about the tea. For now, that would be Blossom’s and my secret. “An anniversary present to us.”
Tristan moved closer to me, bent over, and pressed his lips to the stone. “Maybe,” he murmured. “When the time is right, she’ll come.”
“Mmm . . .” came my only answer. Because who knew if she would ever come? The chances were so slim, even with the stone and the tea. Although I wanted a daughter badly, I would be okay. Unlike the rest of the Amadis, I could accept it if we never had one. Because I still believed Dorian came to us alone for a reason—that, like Tristan, the Angels had created him for us. Not for the Daemoni. Regardless of some stupid curse.